


John Constantine Adopts Another Stray

by Starkvenger



Series: Partners In Crime-Verse [3]
Category: Constantine (TV), Constantine: The Hellblazer (Comics), Shazam! (2019), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Adoption, Bisexual John Constantine, Brotherly Bonding, Cat shenanagains, Cute, Cute Billy Batson, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, John Constantine Adopts A Kitten, John Constantine Being Domestic, John Constantine Is a Good Man, John Constantine Needs A Hug, John Constantine-Centric, Let Billy Batson say Fuck 2020, Teacher-Student Relationship, animal adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkvenger/pseuds/Starkvenger
Summary: And for once, this stray isn't human.Someone keep Billy away from it, it might have fleas!
Relationships: Billy Batson & Chas Chandler, Billy Batson & John Constantine, Chas Chandler & John Constantine
Series: Partners In Crime-Verse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1338454
Comments: 10
Kudos: 165





	John Constantine Adopts Another Stray

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute thought I had while lying in bed that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it.
> 
> Still trying to get my muse back so I can continue World's Collide, but for now, have this fun little ficlet.

\- - -

Worn down, mud-stained leather shoes made contact with the wet concrete as he walked, the darkness folding around him like a familiar blanket as he moved through the damp night air. The rain hadn't stopped for five days now, but he couldn't stay holed up in the House of Mystery forever. He'd already run out of alcohol and if this morning was any indication, he'd be out of coffee by tomorrow.

So here John was, walking through the rain with the moon barely peeking through the dark gray clouds above him. The tails of his trenchcoat were drenched, but because of a certain raven-haired 10-year-old's insistence that he bring an umbrella (despite his argument that these rains were nothing compared to London's) he was relatively dry- and so were his meager groceries. 

The scruffy blonde transferred his umbrella to the hand holding three or four paper bags in order to fish his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and grimaced at the sight of the bottom of the box being damp. He rolled his eyes with a soft groan, fingering a cigarette out before jamming the rest of the box back in his pocket. Some more fumbling and he'd managed to not only light the cigarette with a quick snap, but transfer his umbrella back to his other hand.

The soft light cast long shadows against is face, bathing it in an orange glow as he continued his journey down the drenched sidewalk. He only managed to take a few steps more before he felt a buzzing against his thigh. Another roll of the eyes and he was pulling his phone clumsily out from his pocket and glancing down at it as he took a drag from his cigarette. 

**CHAS:**

**Chas says u ran away**

**come home son mom and dad miss u**

The Hellblazer couldn't help the fondness that washed over him at the sight of the words on the screen- they were obviously sent by Billy. He must have been out for longer than he'd thought, but it hadn't been easy to find a store that was open this late and wasn't a gas station.

**YOU:**

**You're a heathen. I'll be there soon.**

He shook his head at the words and pocketed the device, choosing to ignore the subsequent buzzing that followed his response in favor of taking another drag from his cigarette. He should be coming up on a temporal rift soon enough- then he could just slide his skeleton kye into any old door and voila- he'd be home, back in the warm embrace of the House of Mystery. 

Before he could get too far into his own thoughts about the toasty fire Chas had insisted on lighting that was waiting for him, a pitiful, broken sound caught his attention. John furrowed his brow in confusion, glancing to his right in the direction of an alley. Silver trashcans lined the old brick walls, rain dripping off the metallic lids and pooling into waste-filled puddles in the middle of the alley. 

One last drag of the cigarette and John dropped it, smothering the stick beneath his shoe before narrowing his eyes at the alley. " 'Ello? Anybody out there?" he called out, gaze set on a certain point in the alley and searching for any sign of movement. A small shift in the darkness and him tensing. A ghoul? Maybe a will-o-wisp or an imp- either way, a little hellfire would send them packing.

John shifted his umbrella and summoned a ball of fire to appear in his palm, glaring down at the long shadows the light cast into the small alley. Another shift in the darkness had john furrowing his brow. If this thing was malevolent, it would have attacked him already when it sensed the hellfire. The blonde took a couple of steps into the alley, holding the fireball aloft in an attempt to see better.

"What are you..." he breathed, looking around, only to stop in his tracks and stare at the last thing he'd expected to find that night.

The Hellblazer swallowed thickly at the sight of a frail, trembling, tabby-colored kitten sitting in the middle of a muck-filled puddle as rain doused the poor thing. It glanced up at him and blinked, still trembling as it backed away and pressed itself up against the brick wall out of fear. The fur on its back would likely have been standing up had it not been flattened by the rain and mud covering the creature. 

"Well 'ello there, you pitiful little thing," John said with a tilt of his head as he crouched down to get a better look at the tabby. It was young- likely only four or five weeks old by the size of its bobblehead compared to its ears. The blonde could just barely see the orange-colored stripes that covered its body amongst the muck and filth the poor thing had surrounded itself with and been covered in. 

"Come're you little bugger, let's get you someplace dry then," he said, snuffing out the demonic flames in his hand and reaching out to grab the kitten. It didn't resist much beyond a cracked and broken mewl, and John sighed as he stood up, ignoring the fact that he was definitely going to have to wash his trenchcoat now as the bottom of it was covered in alley water. He brought the animal close to his chest and held it there, using his hand to shield it from the wind and rain as he set back off towards the House of Mystery. 

He walked in silence for a couple of blocks before stepping over the line where mystical barriers met and smirking. "Alright then, now that we're here, let's find us a door, hm kitten?" he said, glancing down at the creature in his arm. It was staring up at him with bright green eyes, wide and full of life- well, at least that was better than the alternative. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle bearing Billy get upset they couldn't save an already dying cat. 

This little guy, though, seemed to be in good spirits. Sure, he was _covered_ in filth and still trembling, but he wasn't fighting John's grip- and he considered that a win. The blonde walked up to a random apartment complex and shifted his umbrella so that it was between his shoulder and neck so he could fish his key out of his pocket. He jammed it into the door and turned the handle, opening the barrier between this world and the House of Mystery.

"Honey, I'm home," he called out sarcastically, walking towards the dining table and setting down his paper bags before closing up his umbrella and setting it beside the door. "Anyone home?" he called out again, shifting around the kitten in his arm to take his coat off without putting the poor creature down. "Come on, you lot, come and greet me before I leave again!"

The signature sound of bare feet running across the wood floor caught his attention as he looked towards the study. Billy came running out with a wide smile to greet the man. "Sorry! Chas just got in the shower and I was distracted by my book," he said, furrowing his brow at the sight of John's arm curled up against his chest. "Did you hurt yourself?"

The blonde chuckled, shaking his head. "Not exactly," he said, crouching down so that he was at eye-level with the 11-year-old before uncurling his arm slightly from the small kitten's fuzzy body. The raven-haired boy's eyes widened at the sight, a smile appearing on his face as he reached out a hand to pet the kitten gently. "Found this little bugger crying out in the rain. Thought I'd bring him in, we could give him a bath and get him some food before sendin' him off again."

"Aw, can't we keep him? He's so cute. Plus he's just a baby- was his mama not around?" Billy asked, still petting the mud-covered kitten. John thought about that for a moment- he hadn't seen any other movement in the alley beside this little guy...maybe he'd gotten separated from his mother. The little thing might still be too young to be wandering around without one... he furrowed his brow in thought.

"We'll talk to Chas about it when he gets out," John said, standing up again. "Right now, this little thing needs a bath- there's no telling the kind of fleas it's got," he continued, bringing the kitten to the kitchen as Billy trailed in after him. 

"Can I help?"

"Of course. Go grab a towel from the dirty laundry while I get the water goin'," John replied, turning the faucet handles and setting them to an adequate temperature. Billy ran off to find a towel while the blonde put the stopper in the sink and let the sink fill up a bit. He glanced down at the kitten, who had gone back to staring at him with those big emerald eyes it had. The corner of his mouth turned up at the sight, and the kitten meowed- its little voice cracking as it spoke.

"You don't say?" he asked, raising a brow at the small creature in his arm before turning off the faucet. Billy came back with a creme-colored towel and a grin on his face, setting the towel down and watching as John pulled the kitten away from his chest to look at it in the light. He sighed and set the kitten down in the water, fully expecting to end up with a myriad of scratches on his hands when the animal's paws touched the water.

To his surprise, though, the kitten simply stood there, staring up at him. John used his hand to cup some water and pour it over top of the animal, using his fingers to work some of the globs of mud from its fur. The water around the kitten quickly turned brown, and John had to let it run out and fill back up before he could continue. "Hand me that dish soap over there," he said, one of his hands busy scratching at the kitten's ear gently while the other was held out for the bottle.

Billy handed the blue liquid to him and he poured some into his hand before rubbing them together and working it into the kitten's fur. The white bubbles turned a creme color before turning tan as John worked his hands along the kitten's body, pulling out stickers and clumps of garbage. He wrung the little guy's tail between his fingers before cupping more water in his hands and rinsing the soap off the kitten. 

"Already looks a world better," John commented, looking down at the now bright orange kitten shivering in the middle of a sink of brown water. "Hand me that towel, will ya?" he said, Billy handing him the object as John pulled up the stopper to let the water drain.

"I take it Johnny's back," Chas said as he came into the dining room and started looking through the paper bags on the dining room table. "Did you get coffee?" he asked, glancing towards the kitchen and furrowing his brow at the sight of John drying the kitten off gently. "Where'd you find that, mate?"

"Alleyway. The little bugger was makin' a right fit of noise when I walked by," he said, drying the kitten's ears off and making its bright orange fur stand on end. Billy beamed at the animal, smiling widely at it as he watched John dry him off. 

"Can I hold him?" he asked, and John glanced at him.

"Sure- take him to the study and sit down in front of the fire. I'm sure the kit's cold," he said, handing the small animal off to the boy and shaking his head at the pair as Billy took off towards the study. Chas glanced at him with a smirk before grabbing the paper bags and bringing them into the kitchen, setting them on the counter and taking things out. "What's that look for?" John asked, raising a brow at the raven-haired man. 

"You- it still gets me sometimes just how domestic you've gotten," he said as he pulled out a bottle of vodka. He glanced at it before giving the Hellblazer an unimpressed look. "...compared to when we are younger, at least," he said with a chuckle. John rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. He glanced down and saw a large brown stain where the kitten had been pressed against his chest and sighed. 

"Well, don't expect that little bugger to stick around. We've got enough goin' on around here without addin' a cat to the mix," he said, unbuttoning his shirt and shedding it as he spoke. He balled it up and grabbed his trenchcoat off the back of a chair, heading for the laundry room and choosing to ignore Chas's comment about Billy getting attached to the animal.

He tossed his clothes into the washing machine before heading towards his bedroom- something both Chas and Billy insisted he conjure up since apparently sleeping on the couch every night wasn't 'good for him' or something. He rummaged through his closet in search of another button-up and grumbled when he couldn't find one- rolling his eyes at the sight of a dark blue shirt with the Super-Sod's symbol emblazoned on the chest (a gift from both Chas and Billy for his birthday). He grabbed it and tugged it on before leaving the room and heading towards the study.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard Billy talking, pausing just outside the room to peek inside. The boy was sitting in front of the fire, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he talked to, what John could only assume, was the kitten laying in his lap as he pet it gently. 

"I think you'll like it here- we can get you a scratching post so you don't tear up the furniture. John hates it when the furniture gets messed up- he gets all red in the face and ha to go to his room and smoke like, a billion cigarettes before he comes back out and gives me a lecture on how old the furniture is and how it's not meant for jumping on and stuff," Billy rambled, watching the flames in front of him as he spoke.

"Oh, and we can make you special cat food like the girl from 'Oliver and Company' does! Chas showed me that movie last week and it's _awesome_. Hey, you actually kinda look like Oliver, now that I get a good look at ya," he said, lifting the cat up by the armpits and staring at it before setting the orange fluffball back down in his lap and resuming his petting. "But that can't be your name... I'm not sure what your name should be if I'm honest."

John took a step back, leaning against the wall just outside the door and running a hand over his face tiredly. This child was going to be the death of him, he swore- he'd told Billy not to get attached, and what was he doing?! Getting bloody attached! Another glance through the crack in the door and John found himself looking at Billy as he laid down on his back and set the kitten on his chest, covered it up, and pillowed his arm underneath his head. 

"I think you fit right in, little guy. We're all kinda strays around here- and even if John doesn't like to admit it, we're like family too. I think you're a perfect addition to the family, and I'm sure we can get Chas to back us up and convince John to keep you around," he said, staring at the ceiling and running his hand along the kitten's back as it curled up on top of him. "Ooh, what about Azazel? I think that's a demon, but it might still be a cool name."

Okay, enough was enough- they couldn't keep the cat, not in a place like this, not with the lives they lived. John sighed and pushed the door open, catching the attention of the 11-year-old on the ground. "Hey John," he said with a grin before turning his attention back towards the kitten. "What do you think a good name for this little guy would be?" he asked, scratching the little animal's chin and causing it to purr on top of him.

"We can't keep it, Kid," John aid with an unimpressed raise of his brow. "I told you that when I walked in with the little bugger. It can stay the night, but tomorrow he's gotta go back outside," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and watching as the boy's smile faded. 

"But- but I would take care of him, you wouldn't;t have to do anything. I would clean out his litter box and feed him every day, and-"

"Kid, I said no. The House of Mystery is no place for a pet. What if he gets lost? What if someone manages to get inside here and hurts it? What then?" He asked as Billy sat up, the small kitten held tightly in his arms. The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. "It's not- It's not a good idea, short stack. We can't keep it." The boy's gaze dropped, disappointment overtaking his features as he glanced back down at the kitten he was still holding. 

"Okay..." he mumbled, clambering up and walking toward John. He handed the fuzzy beast over to the Hellblazer before heading for the door. "I'm gonna go to bed... I'll see you in the morning."

Billy closed the door to the study gently behind him and his footsteps receded, leaving John alone with the kitten. He brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck tiredly before glanced down at the kitten. "I shoulda left you in that alley, huh," he said, getting a vocally broken meow in response from the little guy. John sighed, glancing towards the fire and walking over to his favorite armchair and plopping down in it. Legs splayed out and kitten sitting on his chest, he stared absently at the flames inside the fireplace. 

It felt like they were mocking him, his mind seeing images in the flames and causing him to glance down at the animal on top of him. It was purring still, and staring up at him with those big, emerald eyes again. "What?" he asked defensively, leaning back in his chair slightly as he stared at the cat in front of him. "You can't expect me to suddenly change my mind just cause you give me that look," he said, only to get a small meow in response.

"You cheeky little-"

The Hellblazer was interrupted by the study door opening again, this time revealing one Chas Chandler, a mug in each hand as he entered the room and closed the door with his foot behind him. "Where'd Billy go?" he asked, looking around the room in confusion as he gave the blonde one of the mugs and sat down in the other vacant armchair in from of the fireplace. 

"Bed...he got upset when I said the cat wasn't stayin'," John replied, getting a sigh from Chas. "What?" he asked, furrowing his brow at the man. "We can't keep this thing, Chas- there's no tellin' what could happen to it if it's just left to wander around the House of Mystery. It's just a regular ol' cat- and a baby one at that."

Chas took a sip from his mug before setting it on the end table beside him and looking at John fully. "Johnny, you _know_ how to fix that problem," he said, raising a knowing brow towards the blonde. "It's obvious that the kid's already attached, mate, if you get rid of it now, he's gonna resent ya for at least a little while because of it," he said with a smirk, picking up his ceramic mug once more and taking another sip of the steaming hot liquid. 

John groaned. "No- no. Billy's too young for a familiar. That kind of thing isn't- _no_. Just no. Billy's not going through that."

"Who said anything about it being _Billy's_ familiar?"

John nearly choked on his tea, eye twitched as he swallowed the hot liquid, glanced down at the slumbering feline in his lap, and looked back up at Chas. "No. No no no no, I don't _want_ a familiar, Chas." He set his own mug down and rummaged through his pocket, careful not to jostle the kitten, and pulled out his cigarettes. He lit one up and brought it to his lips, drawing in a big breath and glancing at Chas as he smirked at the blonde. 

"Not happening."

"Not even to make Billy probably the happiest you'll ever see him?"

John swallowed thickly, glancing back down at the kitten. Sure, he _knew_ Billy would be upset if the cat were to leave... but he'd get over it, right? The kitten lifted its head, blinking owlishly up at the man before yawning. The man couldn't deny that the little thing was cute- I mean, it's a _kitten_ , of course it's cute, but... He sighed, taking another long drag of his cigarette and blowing the smoke out through his nose as he stared at the flames once more.

His resolve certainly wasn't what it used to be. 

"Atta boy, Johnny," Chas said, taking another sip of his tea and giving the man a smirk. John hadn't even said anything- it was a tell for just how long they'd been friends. "A pet helps build character, you know. Remember my dog Benson?" he asked, causing John's lip to curl upward at the thought of the copper-colored Irish setter from their youth. 

"I remember the damn thing bit me on the leg," he said, sneering at the memory. "Still got the _scar_ , you bastard," he said, his sneer melting into a soft grin when he looked Chas in the eyes. The man was rubbing the back of his neck guiltily and chuckling in his chair. "So maybe a kitten _would_ be better than a hound such as that," he added, causing Chas to give him an offended look before laughing at him.

"You're such a knobhead, Johnny," he muttered with a shake of his head. 

"Yeah yeah yeah... so I've been told," John replied, smothering his cigarette out in the ashtray on the end table, standing up with the kitten in tow. "Come on, help me gather the things I need to bound this bugger to me," he said, nudging the raven-haired man as he passed him. Chas shook his head and set his empty mug down on the end table, following John out of the study and in the direction of what he and Billy had come to call John's 'Magic Room'. 

He knew they only called it that to frustrate the blonde, but in all honesty, it was endearing. "You grab the herbs, i'll grab the ash..." he muttered as they came into the dimly lit room. Bokshelves full of ancient tomes, relics, and potion ingredients surrounded them, as did various herbs stuffed into terracotta pots and gemstones of multiple sizes. Candlelight was the only thing illuminating it all, casting long shadows onto the walls as the pair moved about the room with practiced precision.

John grabbed a small leather beg he knew was filled with ash and brought it to a stone table in the middle of the room, setting the small ball of orange fluff in his hand down and setting the pouch down beside it. The kitten pawed at the small bag curiously and John eyed it before turning his attention towards the spellbook he'd need for the ritual. "Been so long since I cast a familiar binding spell..." he muttered, causing his friend to smirk.

"Wasn't the last one for Astra?" He asked, bringing over various small bottles filled with ground-up herbs to the table the kitten was sitting on. "I remember she couldn't have been more excited to have her familiar...what was it again? I remember it was strange," he said off-handedly, setting the small bottles down on the table and glancing towards the blonde as he moved around the room, fingers gliding over the worm spines of the various tomes that lined the bookshelves. 

John paused, glancing back at Chas before sighing and continuing his search. "It was a crow...or it might've been a raven- I can't remember, they're basically interchangeable," he said, trying to ignore the spark of warmth that ignited in his chest when he thought about the spirited girl with a mop of dark-haired curls and a gap in her front teeth. He could still remember the girl's insistence on becoming his apprentice, despite the fact that she couldn't do magic.

She'd loved animals of all kinds, but birds, especially corvids, were her favorite- she'd skin him alive if she heard him say the birds were interchangeable.

The warmth in his chest was quickly smothered out as he tried his best to divert his thoughts away from the now long-dead girl. Go down that road, and he'd end up giving the wall a thousand-yard stare and losing his breath. Chas said he should really get help for that, said something about PTSD, but he was _John Bloody Constantine_ , he didn't need therapy or medication... if anything, it was a cosmic sort of punishment for the things he'd done, having to remember every detail of the night Astra was killed.

"Right," he said, clearing his throat and pulling out a dark red tome with golden lacing along the spine. "Let's uh, let's do this then," he continued, coming back to the table and opening the ancient book. He flipped through the yellowing pages in search of the spell he needed while Chas combined the needed ingredients in a small bowl. "Not too much witch hazel, knobhead, that stuff's potent," he said, glancing towards his oldest friend with a smirk, only to get a roll of the eyes in return.

"I got it, Johnny, relax," he replied with a chuckle before adding a few leaves to the small bowl. "Finger, please," he said, pulling out a needle. John continued to flip through the yellowed pages as he stretched out an arm, letting Chas prick his finger and shaking a few beads of blood into the bowl before pulling his arm back and pushing the finger to his lips. He nursed his finger and spared a glanced towards Chas as he got a few hairs from the kitten and dropped them into the bowl as well, grabbing the mortar and grinding the things together.

"Found it," he said, pulling his finger from his mouth and rubbing it against the others as he looked over the Latin he'd need to speak in order to get the spell to work. "Alright... we still need a little gem to put on a collar for the bugger," he said, looking around the room. Chas glanced around the gemstones they'd gathered before grinning and picking up a small emerald.

"What about this one?" he asked, getting a grin from the blonde. "Matches his eyes," he said with a chuckle, putting the gemstone in the Hellblazer's palm.

"Alright...let's see..." he read over the words he'd need to speak one last time before grabbing the small bowl from Chas and swiping his fingers along the soft green paste. He rubbed his thumb against the kitten's forehead, smearing the paste into its fur and getting a small meow in response- something that made his gaze soften slightly as he shook his head at the animal. "Hush, you," he said, before rubbing the rest of the paste across his own forehead. 

_"Quod se insinuent...ut animalis est anima mea in disjungi vinculum...longum tempus,"_ he breathed, holding a hand out towards the creature. A soft yellow glow came from his palm, his energy stretching out towards the creature and wrapping around it. Its soul was small and frail, cracked and shaky- but a bright evergreen that caused John to pause momentarily. He felt a pinch in his core as the kitten mewled in confusion. He felt his magic tying itself to the creature, a sigil of light forming in the air between them.

"Have a little faith, kit- you're fine," he said with a grin as the light began to fade. The animal tensed, taking a few shaky steps back as the sigil floating between it and John faded into nothingness. "There, see? I didn't lie to you," John said snarkily, the kitten's bright green eyes widening a fraction.

"I'll take it that worked?" Chas asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked between John and the kitten. 

"Yeah- we just need name for you, now," he said, glancing away from Chas and towards the kitten still sitting on the table. "What about Asper? I remember climbing those trees when we were boys," John said as he scooped the kitten up into his arm and glanced towards his mate. 

"I remember you _falling out of_ quite a few of those- but I supposed you did have to climb up them first," Chas replied with a chuckle. "Come on, we should tell Billy what's goin' on," he said, patting the man on the shoulder as he passed him. He paused to scratch under the kitten's chin with a grin, bending down slightly to stare at those bright green eyes. "Welcome to the family, kid."

John sighed and shook his head at the man, following him out of the room to search for Billy. "Hey shortstack? We got a surprise for ya..." he said as they came out into the living room. He really hoped he wasn't gonna regret this decision- familiar bonding wasn;t exactly an easy thing to undo, what with the tying of two souls into a messy knot and all.

If the look on the 11-year-old's face was anything to go by, he most certainly wouldn't.

\- - -

**Author's Note:**

> C U T I E S ✨
> 
> Also, if you couldn't tell, this was some practice for me to attempt to write more detailed and descriptive settings and stuff- I really really wanted to try and paint a picture with this one, and I hope I managed it for you guys.
> 
> I also hope you enjoyed this! lol
> 
> ALSO also, if you're wondering, no, John couldn't understand the cat before it became his familiar. He's just like that.


End file.
